How To: Homemade Butter

Most people who cook have at some point or other overwhisked cream. You are left with solids and a milky liquid in the bowl - this is essentially butter and buttermilk. All you have to do from here is drain and wash it several times and then knead it until the butter runs clear. Salted is added to preserve it. You don't strictly need butter bats to make butter but they do make it easier to shape it into blocks.

Of course you can make butter from any amount of cream, but this amount should last a family for about a week.

• 2.4l double cream at room temperature
• 2 teaspoons dairy salt (optional)
• pair of butter bats

Soak the bats in iced water for about 30 minutes so that the butter does not stick. I didn't have butter bats and couldn't find any, so ended up using a pair of oversized wooden salad spoons! This was a bit awkward, but using your hands will obviously melt the butter.

 Pour the cream into a cold, sterile mixing bowl and mix it until it is thick. Keep whipping past the stiffly whipped stage until the water and butter separate and slosh around the bowl. Turn the mixture into a cold, spotlessly clean sieve and drain into a bowl (you can use the leftover buttermilk to make sodabread). Put the butter back into the bowl and whisk further to expel more buttermilk. Sieve like before. Then put cold water into the bowl and knead the butter in it to expel and further buttermilk. This is very important as any leftover buttermilk will cause the butter to sour. Keep doing this step, changing the water as you knead to until the water runs clear.

If you want to add salt to your butter, spread it out on a clean surface and sprinkle evenly with dairy salt. Mix thoroughly with the pats. Make the butter into a slab shape and store in your fridge in waxed or greaseproof paper. If done properly, the butter should stay fresh for months, but will be eaten in a week :)